The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research foundation based out of Washington, D.C., measured the real value of $100 in each state, looking at average prices for similar goods. In Michigan, $100 actually buys $105.93 worth of goods.

That difference has income implications. A $50,000 salary in Michigan actually equates to about $52,965 in purchasing power. That same $50,000 salary in California would equate to $44,285 in purchasing power. So to move to California and maintain the same standard of living, a Michigander would actually have to make $59,800.

MOVING STATES, MOVING SALARIES

If you make $50,000 pre-tax in Michigan, here’s how much pre-tax money you’d need to make to maintain the same standard of living in other states:
• California: $59,800
• New York: $61,118
• Texas: $51,105
• Oregon: $52,331
• Illinois: $53,284
• Washington, D.C.: $62,606
• Florida: $52,331

In terms of prices of goods in other states, that same $100 buys you the least in Washington, D.C., where it gets $84.60 worth of goods. In Hawaii it’s $85.32, in New York it’s $86.66, New Jersey is $87.64 and California is $88.57.

So where does that money go the furthest? In Mississippi it gets $115.74 worth of goods, Arkansas $114.16 and both Missouri and Alabama $113.51.

The Tax Foundation in a blog on the subject called regional price differences “strikingly large.” The gap between the lowest-price and highest-price state is almost 40 percent.

There are some policy implications, according to the foundation. For instance, federal programs relying on income thresholds could be disproportionate, such as a welfare program. A person applying from a high cost area may be artificially boosted out of the income range, and a person applying for the same program in a low-cost state could be eligible even though they have greater purchasing power.